


Face Forward

by PhenomenalBrat



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alex and Kelly have foster child, Alex does some self reflecting, Arlo Hotel incident, Barry and Alex conversation, Business Trip, F/F, F/M, Iris Kelly friendship, Mentions of Sex, Microaggressions, Racism Discussion, Social Commentary, Supercorp mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28394733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhenomenalBrat/pseuds/PhenomenalBrat
Summary: While staying at a hotel during a business trip for Kelly,  Alex sees first hand the toxic experiences that her fiancee and foster daughter face and does some reflection on the reality of toxic derange behavior verses racism and how one can be equally as true as the other.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, Barry Allen/Iris West
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	Face Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Author's notes: Alex is going to get to a difficult moment where she witnesses something deeply uncomfortable happening and gets a more "in your face" look at some things that Kelly has explained to her before. I'm going to try to mark some warning for the discomforting part of the story. Bare with me. There is an important lesson mixed in all this.
> 
> Trigger warning: Racist micro aggression, accusation, Insults and slurs, Alex having to witness something despicable happen, yelling, Kelly and Alex arguing sort of, intense kinda angry smut/sex

**Alex**

Alex was in disbelief. She couldn't figure out how this had even happened. She stepped forward to interject herself into the situation as an angry and petite brunette white woman, who quite frankly seemed rather drunk or deranged in Alex' opinion, stood yelling at Amelia. 

"She stole my wallet!"

"Me and my daughter just got down stairs less than two minutes ago." Kelly was clearly not here for this nonsense.

"I saw you put something in her bag!"

"That was my wallet," Kelly pointed out. "I'm an adult too. We all have wallets." Kelly sounded like she was explaining something to a particularly slow child. Alex was surprised. She had rarely heard that kind of tone from Kelly. 

The woman, whose name Alex still hadn't caught, reached for Amelia. "You people all let your little monkies-" The woman gestured at Amelia.

"Hey!" Alex reached out grabbing the woman's wrist. " Leave my daughter alone." She asserted herself further into the situation. 

"Is everything okay?" The hotel concierge approach.

"She stole my wallet!" The deranged and angry woman began screaming.

"How?" Kelly asked. " You were already yelling that your wallet was stolen when my daughter and I stepped off the elevator, then you turned as you saw us and accused my daughter. Explain how you concluded it was us, without making any pigment based assumptions." Kelly's words cut through the room like a knife of common sense. " when did you notice it missing? Who was actually around when you did notice? Explain."

" You people are thieves!" The woman reached out, to shove Kelly.

"Maam, calm down." The concierge directed this statement at Kelly, which left Alex confused. 

"My fiance isn't the one shoving folks. " Alex jumped to Kelly's defense. If that woman laid a hand on Kelly or reached for Amelia again, she was sure she would end up decking her. Amelia was now clinging to Alex' leg. She was shaking too, as though afraid that angry woman would try to grab her again.

"You people?"

"Maam, if we could just check your daughter's bag-" The concierge asked, turning, like he was going to reach for Amelia.

If looks could kill, Alex is sure Kelly's would have at least broke every bone in that man's body. "No. Like I said, Me and my daughter have nothing to do with this woman or her wallet. We just came down here for breakfast from our hotel room. We are guest PAYING to stay in this hotel."

"My fiance and daughter aren't thieves." Alex concurred with Kelly's statement.

"Give me back my wallet! Get it back. " The woman was commanding the concierge to do her bidding. She shot a nasty look at Kelly and Amelia.

This whole situation was getting way out of hand. Alex found herself wondering if it might be simpler to let this woman see the bag, just to prove she was wrong.

"Maam-" 

"You can't just assault my Fiancee' and daughter like this. You-"

The woman appeared to deflate somewhat as Alex pointed at her, talking her down. Alex was still not completely sure why this madness was taking place at all. This had all come out of nowhere as far as she could tell.

"Look, I'm sure you had nothing to do with this, but-" She sounded almost deferential now that Alex was going into  _ Director Danvers  _ mode.

"You probably just left it in your car or room." Kelly point out a reasonable thought 

"I checked out two days ago." The woman stated this as if she had somehow one upped Kelly. 

"If you're not a guest in this hotel then what are you doing here?" Kelly asked the obvious question that seemed to have gone over the managers head.

Alex could see her lovers' usually endless grace and patience wearing thin. 

Silence over took the situation for a stark and heavy moment. A few moments later, a man came running through the door of the hotel. He was a tall, rather slender young man with a toffee caramel hue to his skin. He had on simple blue jeans and a black shirt barring the insignia for that new ride share company, " _ Over."  _ He looked around frantically for a few moments before spotting the woman who had been screaming at Amelia and Kelly. 

"Maam! Maam!" He held out a dark black wallet case. "You left this in the back of the car when I dropped you off about 20 minutes ago. 

The woman looked at her wallet in the man's hand for a second. She snatched it from him. "My wallet!"

"Imagine that. There's your wallet!" Kelly's tone was precise and cutting.

The woman looked almost embarrassed. She looked over at Alex as though expecting some kinda help from her. "Well...they didn't have to be so nasty about it." She was clearly indicating Kelly and Amelia when she said " _ They"  _ and Kelly's expression and reaction looked as if the woman had just used some vile slur.

The  _ 'Over' _ driver, perhaps sensing what was happening, interjected some more information. "I rushed back as fast as I could. You left your wallet and phone charger in the back of the car. The chargers' still in my car. You seemed rather distracted earlier."

Alex waited for the woman to utter some attempt at an apology.

"Mommy?" Amelia tugged on Alex' pants leg. "We just got off the elevator. Are we gonna get breakfast?

Alex cringed internally at the fear in Amelia's voice. The incident seems to be kicking off all kinds of stressor for her, that they had been trying to tamper down in therapy.

"Well…" The concierge seemed to be at loss.

Kelly looked at Alex. "Remind me to tell Lena, we should take this hotel off of LCorp, corporate list." Kelly pseudo whispered in a volume the concierge clearly heard judging by the way his face paled.

The woman huffed and walked off headed out the door. Alex still hadn't caught her name.

Kelly took Amelia's hand and began walking towards the parking garage rather than the dining area. She didn't seem to even expect or be waiting for an apology. Alex followed after her.

"Kelly-"

Kelly held up her hand, pausing whatever Alex was gonna say. "Hold that thought babe." Kelly pulled out her phone.

"Babe, I'm sorry-people are-"

Kelly sighed. Finally whomever she had dialed picked up. "Iris?" 

Alex was confused. She thought they would meet Barry and Iris for lunch later. Kelly stepped away.

"Mommy's mad." The innocent observation from Amelia confirmed Alex' own thoughts. A few moments later after a whispered conversation, Kelly walked back over.

"Okay sweetie. We're gonna go have breakfast with Aunty Iris. Won't that be fun?

Kelly looked over at Alex. Her eyes held the hint that a serious discussion was forthcoming later.

The discomfort and uncertainty and irritation twisted in Alex gut as she was unused to seeing Kelly like this. She held her tongue though, as they moved towards the parking garage. The air felt heavy as she waited for Kelly to say something to clear the stress of the situation. 

**. . . .**

**(Kelly)**

Kelly could hear Amelia at the table in the other room, giggling as Barry told a joke. Alex was in there chatting with Barry. Kelly leaned up against the sink. She felt guilty for drinking a tequila sunrise. She normally didn't drink in the day time but her patience and nerves were frayed. Alex had been nervously filling the quiet during the whole car ride. 

Kelly couldn't find anything to say to her during the ride. The indignation and lack or retribution had pressed into her frustration. It had reminded her of some unspeakable moments from her childhood.

"So you two just stepped off the elevator and she was in your face?"

Kelly sighed. "She jumped out like a weirdo. And then she started accusing Amelia of theft. And she tried to grab her!" Kelly controlled her volume as best she could. " I'm just glad I have good self control cause it was everything I could do not to deck that woman. "Kelly took another sip of her tequila sunrise."

"I would not have judged you if you had," Iris assured her. "You're nicer than me."

"Alex said that woman was probably just deranged." 

"The deranged woman who only zeroed in on two black people but didn't accuse or assault anyone else in the lobby, in the entire time she was looking for her wallet?" Iris sounded a bit in disbelief as she spoke the question, assessing the situation. 

"I think she gets it and also doesn't get it. She's pissed obviously. Alex hates when anyone upsets Amelia. The Derange woman who wasn't even a guest at the hotel at that point, was empowered by. Hotel staff to harass us for no reason.

It's just plain- and we know why. " Kelly took a huge gulp from her glass. She could hear talking and laughter from the other room. Amelia seemed to have bounced back from the earlier incident somewhat.

"Which Hotel was it again? I'm thinking about dropping a little something in the Newspapers' next issue."

"Central City Arlo Hotels. I'm not even in the mood to go back there," Kelly admitted. 

Iris shrugged. " oh that place. " The way Iris said it was a loaded statement in itself." We have enough empty rooms. Screw that place. I had a problem with the one in Metropolis a few months back. They suck," Iris confessed. " Save LCorp some change. They're lucky you were so nice about all that. I would not have had the patience. People have tried me once too often."

"My aunt used to say, _ " folks better try Jesus if they want patience and Grace, but don't try me"  _ and then she would sip some things to drink," Kelly explained. She laughed a little. 

"What time does that conference you're at this week, start?" Iris shifted the subject as though she could sense Kelly's emotional and mental exhaustion.

"It's not until 1pm. "

"It's only 10 now. We've got time."

Kelly honestly felt like crying. The simplicity of not having to explain the layers of the problem was refreshing. It was like some weight off her shoulders. 

"She called us,  _ 'you people '  _ and it -it wasn't even a slur. It just-"

"...it was obvious what she meant. " Iris caught on to Kelly's thoughts immediately. 

"I- It-it reminded me too much of something that happened to James and me as kids when our cousin and us were at the Hilton when we were kids

**. . . .**

**(24 years ago) -Kelly age 10**

_ "You can't catch me" James laughed as he ran down the hall of the hotel room.  _

_ Kelly and Hasani chased after him. Cousin Mike was right behind them. Being a little older and bigger, he closed the distance on James much faster, bear hugging him from behind and catching him.  _

_ "Caught you!" _

_ A second later, Kelly and Hasani caught up to them.  _

_ The 4 some stood laughing in the middle of the hall for a minute. _

_ The jovial moment was cut short by an abrupt appearance from the man Kelly had seen working behind the hotel desk when they checked in a few days ago.  _

_ "What are you kids doing?" The man walked up the stairs behind James. He had on a rather crisp looking white button up shirt and a blue vest. His dark brown hair was slicked back. His face was stern and held a look of retribution to it. Without warning, he reached out, grabbing James.  _

_ "Ow!" _

_ "How did you kids get in here? Did you sneak in!" _

_ "We're guest! We-" _

_ "This isn't the streets or wherever you're used to playing at, kiddo. You're all being way too loud." _

_ "But we-" Cousin Mike tried to speak up. _

_ Kelly was unsure what to do. They had tried being as quiet as possible but it was like nothing they did had been good enough. She didn't think they had been any louder than any or the adults, especially not with the family reunion going on down on the first floor in the banquet hall. _

_ "This isn't a playground. You can't just sneak in here-" _

_ "We didn't sneak in!" Mike, who was the oldest, held up the key card to his room, trying to assert their innocence. _

_ "Listen kid-" The man was still gripping James' arm pretty hard as he addressed Mike. _

_ "Ow! Let-" James tried to pull free.  _

_ The group began to grow concerned. They shared looks trying to figure out how they would get out of this. The solution presented itself as Kelly's mom came up the stairs. The navy blue dress she wore, though flattering and well pressed looked to have gotten a stain on it. Valencia Olsen, though still recovering emotionally from the death of her husband from three years ago, was still a formidable woman, with a firey spark. Within a moment, she clocked what was happening.  _

_ "Wha-" Valencia spoke as she took in the scene. The front desk clerk looked over and saw her as he turned away from the kids.  _

_ "Maam-" _

_ "Get your hands off my son!" Her tone left no room for questions or disagreement.  _

_ The man pulled his hand back from James' arm abruptly. " I- you're son? There- I thought you were hosting that booking in the banquet room? Maam, I-" It appeared that he recognized Valencia from check in. _

_ "Yes. I am hosting that very expensive family reunion. Me and my children are guest in the hotel. Why are you grabbing on them?" Valencia Olsen was sharp. She cut straight to the heart of the matter. She was gonna get answers. She had always been rather staunch by necessity but the loss of her husband and lack of time with her kids, had given her an ice cold streak when dealing with, what she often referred to as 'white nonsense ' _

_ "Mom." Kelly looked at her mother feeling immense gratitude that she had showed up right that second.  _

_ "They were being loud. We thought they-" _

_ "You though what? That you could just grab on other people's children just because they were paying harmlessly. " Valencia stepped towards them. Her hand reached out, gently pulling James towards her. _

_ "Ma'am-" _

_ "Who is your supervisor? You're not gonna mistreat my son or my nephew or my daughter and-" _

_ If nothing else, Kelly was sure this was gonna get handled one way or another.  _

**. . . .**

**(Present)-Kelly**

"Dang. Momma Olsen did not play around." Iris sounded impressed. 

"Mom, even with everything that happened, was a fighter."

"You've got that same energy." Iris complimented her easily and quickly.

"Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes it feels like a- like I'm gonna- gonna become-"

"-the angry black woman stereotype they assume." Iris finished Kelly's thought for her.

"Sometimes it feels like anger is all that folks understand. I guess, I wish Alex could fully meet me in my anger-"

"-Without you having to explain the extra layers to her."

"Yeah." Kelly thought quietly for a moment. "She's come a long way. I just- I love her. I just think- She recognizes overt problems. It's the-the-"

"Are you about to say microaggressions? "Iris practically snorted. "There's nothing micro about some of this stuff at all."

"Tell me about it."

Iris got walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, grabbing two bottles of water. She walked back, handing Kelly one. "You're gonna dehydrate."

"Thanks."

"So you said Alex was rambling during the car ride?"

"Yeah. She was mad. I mean, obviously. I just feel like I was angry on a whole different wavelength and I just didn't even have energy to go through the  _ 'this Derange woman, knew full well what she was doing and her behavior was racist and its despicable to automatically assume Black people are thieves, so its more than just deranged behavior, its racism right in front of our faces, being empowered by the hotel Staff'  _ type conversation. I just- I just had a migraine after it happened. 

"Understandable."

"I love that she just immediately backed me up though. 

"You're allowed to be tired, you know."

"Tired doesn't even begin to cover it sometimes. And I have to be at that meeting." Kelly sighed. "I don't want to go to this conference. God, I hate these conferences. "

"Let me guess. Lena asked and you couldn't say no."

"Puppy dog eyes and everything. She couldn't make it cause she's taking Kara somewhere special. You know how those two are with their surprises for each other."

"You have got to start saying  _ "no"  _ to these conferences"

"I guess I should feel flattered to represent LCorp. Lena really trusted me alot."

Iris snorted out a morose laugh. "At least no one is trying to kill either of us this time." Iris comments with some levity.

"I don't know what's worse, Shadow organizations trying to kill us or covert but really overt racist nonsense in my face. I swear to God, sometimes it feels like if its not some side eye look from one of the corporate jackals at the mention of my future wife, then it's some,  _ "you're a good black"  _ comment I've heard directed at someone or me."

"So today was kinda just the straw that broke the camel's back?" 

"Yeah." 

"You've got alot going on. Amelia's therapy can't be easy, plus literally saving the world."

"That's a whole other story." Kelly sighed. 

"I've gotten bits and pieces of it from Kara. So all things considered, I think you've handled everything rather well." Iris consoled her.

Kelly pressed two fingers to the side of her head. " I have to go back over there and get some clothes to wear for the conference. "

"Not without your good friend Iris for back up. And to help you check out of that place."

"Iris. That's-"

"It's the least we can do. I want to." Iris smiled softly and warmly. It put Kelly at complete ease.

"Okay. I owe-"

"You don't. Trust me. Come on. We may as well go now." Iris tossed her now empty bottle of water in the trash and headed out of the kitchen.

**. . . .**

**(Alex)**

Alex watched Barry's face to gauge his reaction as she finished explaining what happened at the hotel. Kelly and Iris had left about 25 minutes ago and Amelia now sat in front of the TV watching the cartoon  _ PJ mask _ superhero show that Nia had apparently gotten the child into.

"...and then she said,  _ " well they didn't have to be so nasty about it," _ And acted like she wasn't the one who caused the problem. She was clearly deranged."

Barry cringed a bit. " Sounds like she was just stupid and racist at the same time."

"I mean- probably. I would- She wasn't hurling slurs or anything but-"

"It's-" Barry scraped the back of his neck as he clearly searched for words. "Trust me. It's alot more subtle than that. I kinda grew up learning this stuff and understanding or having to understand the difference."

" I felt like that lady was just being a bitch, Alex admitted.

"Oh, she definitely was." Barry concurred with Alex' thoughts. "It sounds like she was also being racist and throwing out accusations at the first Black person she saw too."

"Kelly was really intense. She handled it practically without my help. " 

Barry laughed a little. "From what you told me, it sounds like Kelly was actually really self restrained. I've seen Iris take it to 11. I love that about her." He sounded wistfully proud of how Iris stood up for herself. "Kelly sounds like she was at, maybe volume 7.

Alex went silent. She, herself had been about 30 seconds from decking that woman when she reached for Amelia. Her brain was hit with a discomforting question then. Why had she even thought Kelly's reaction was intense? What did that say about what she herself expected of Kelly. Obviously Kelly was well within her rights and allowed to be angry. She felt a deep discomfort as she processed the days events on a whole different level than she had this morning.

"I honestly wanted to punch that woman's lights out after she pushed Kelly."

Barry studied her face for a moment as though he was trying to read her mind. "Alex? What's really bothering you. I don't think it's just the incident. "

Alex sighed. " Kelly was really quiet on the drive over here. I don't know." She sighed and looked over at Amelia on the couch still happily watching her show. " Usually we talk about stuff like this or-" Alex searched for the right words.

"Alex. I- Do you two talk about this kind of stuff or does she talk you through it? Barry was very quiet, almost like he was handling her with kid gloves as he asked. 

Alex felt a rush of memories from past conversations kind of smack her in the face; or not so much conversations as much as Kelly guiding her through things, gently and always alleviating the stress Alex felt in some way. "I just rambled in the car. Like, I could feel that something was off kilter. I was upset...but maybe I- I didn't fully clock the same things that Kelly did."

"You're only human. It takes time. It takes some learning and some unlearned too. I didn't wake up this socially aware. I get it wrong sometimes too," Barry admitted with some self deprivation in his voice.

"And what do you do when you miss the mark?"

"Sometimes a lot, sometimes nothing; Sometimes just shutting up and listening is enough...other times navigating my own way through is the answer. "

Alex nodded. That was a good idea.

"Iris and I are gonna have a family one day." Barry smiled at the thought of his future with Iris. Alex was sure her face held the same love struck expression anytime she talked about Kelly. "I know I'm gonna need to be aware of that kinda stuff. There's a lot more than just metas and super villians and normal deranged people that I'm gonna have to protect my kids from. There's a whole other layer of toxicity. "Barry continued explaining. 

Alex looked over at Amelia on the couch. Her eyes felt a tiny bit teary. She wondered if Amelia, even at her young age of almost 8, realized that racism was still a thing. "This shouldn't even be a thing." Alex felt frustrated. She knew it was a reality of the world. She just hated it. She really wanted to talk about the whole hotel incident with Kelly.

"It shouldn't be a thing but it still is, just like homophobes still exist and hide behind micro aggression and homophoboc dog whistles or sexist dudes exist or -"

"Yeah. " Alex nodded. 

"Clocking and catching the difference between sexism and compliments was a head turning." Barry had that same self depricating tone. "I've unlearned a lot to let myself learn a lot more."

"I'm getting there."

"You are." He agreed with her self assessment. 

Barry's phone buzzed with a text message. He pulled it out and looked at it. 

"Okay, Iris just texted. Apparently Kelly checked you guys out of that hotel and had some words with the manager and apparently Iris called Lena and- I'm not sure what exactly was said but looks like you guys are staying here, and the manager is shittinghis pants cause he realized Kelly was from LCorp so-" he smiled a little, clearly feeling proud of Iris and Kelly's team work.

"Oh. Barry I-"

"It's no problem. We have extra rooms. Probably be more peaceful than staying at that place anyways." 

"We owe you guys one."

"I'm sure we'll be dropping in soon on you guys." Barry explained as he stood up. " I'm heading into star labs if you guys wanted to-"

"Is Iris-"

"Her text said that her and Kelly are going by her office before the conference at 1pm so-" he shrugged.

"I'm glad we introduced them." Alex laughed a little. "

"They're really good for each other in a complicated way."

"Yep."

They both turn to watch Amelia, who had flipped the TV to some new show.

"I'll get the keys." Barry told her. He walked away from the table towards the stairs. 

Alex walked over to collect Amelia. "Sweetie?"

Amelia looked up at her. "We don't have to go back there do we?"

"Nah. We're gonna stay here with Aunty Iris and Barry for a few days."

"Good. That mean lady was pushing mommy just cause she looked like me and not like you. "

"Amelia-" Alex paused. What could she say? The child wasn't wrong from what Alex was understanding.

"I didn't even take anything. That was a bad place and bad lady."

"And the sheets were itchy."

"Yeah." Amelia agreed, nodding as Alex spoke.

"Okay, I got the keys." Barry re entered the room holding some Keys to Iris' car, since she and Kelly had taken the rental car back to the hotel earlier.

Amelia flipped off the TV and followed him towards the door. Alex followed behind them. Her brain felt a twinge of upset as she thought about the fact that a child of Amelia's age even understood race or racism or anything like that. She supposed though given the abuses Amelia had suffered, she might just be more aware of the world than the average child, that brought a new thought to Alex' mind. Maybe she just didn't understand what Amelia or any average Black child might be aware of because maybe- that was a thought line for later. It reminded her of when she talked to Patrick's little brother. These kids saw way too much. She really wanted to talk to Kelly. She was so agitated. 

**. . . .**

**( 6 pm that night)**

Alex lay on the bed in the guest bedroom. Her arm was around Kelly who lay on her side. They were cuddled up spooning on the bed. Barry and  _ Aunty  _ Iris had taken Amelia for Ice cream. Iris hadn't said it but it was clear that they wanted to give Kelly and Alex a chance to talk. Talking had turned out to be some very vigorous sex.

Kelly hadn't really been in the mood to emotionally unpack everything that happened. It was like Kelly had worked out months of stress on Alex' body. She felt sore but in a very good way. Her skin still tingled from the combination of punishment and pleasure her fiance had run her body through.

They had been laying on quiet for the past 10 minutes. Unlike earlier, Alex didn't feel compelled to ramble to fill the silence. She figured they would need to shower really soon. They couldn't exactly lay here forever.

"It just- it was like the last straw today." Kelly finally spoke.

"You handled that with a lot of patience, all things considered." Alex complemented Kelly as her lover shifted around a bit in the bed getting more comfortable. "I was close to going off on her completely," Alex admitted.

"Me too. And then she referred to Amelia as a  _ "little monkey"  _ and -" Kelly sighed. 

"I didn't clock the full impact of everything she was saying." Alex hated admitting to any kind of personal lack in herself. "I just thought she was being a deranged bitch."

"Multiple things can be true at once. She deranged, a bitch and racist. "

"Maybe she was mentally ill."

Kelly visibly cringed. " Love, as an actual psychologist, I'm gonna tell you, please don't conflate mental illness with racism. Mentally ill people can be racist but Mental illness doesn't cause racism. It kind of creates a despicable stigma when people do that."

"Sorry. I just meant-"

"I get what you meant." Kelly let her off the hook there momentarily. "She was garbage and racist and clearly knew the staff would prop up her B*S.

Alex was quiet for a few minutes ." Now I get the full impact of what you were saying earlier. You were really...direct and intense."

"So I was acting like you normal would?" Kelly's tone sounded like she was making a point, a very specific point.

Alex thought about it for a moment. Kelly did have a point there. Alex was rather staunch in tone and posture and execution in hostile situations. That's exactly what it had been, Alex concluded. Kelly had dropped into a hostile situation. She had actually been more peaceful than she should of been expected to be.

"I'm gonna get better at clocking these things beyond them just being crappy situations," Alex promised. 

Kelly nodded. "I know you will babe.

There was silence again. Alex rubbed Kelly's back soothingly. Finally she felt the need to ask something she had been wondering about. "So… babe?"

"Yeah?" Kelly's eyes were closed but it was clear she was awake still, just soaking up the back rub. 

"Earlier in the car today were you- were you mad at me or-"

Kelly lay still with her eyes closed. She didn't speak. It felt like she was thinking of how to word her thoughts. "I'm- I was angry at the world, the indignation, the concierge, that woman who scared Amelia and just so, so tired. " Kelly breathed out a sigh. " Sometimes I'm just so tired. "

Alex didn't respond. This was one of those, wait and listen moments, no matter how much she wanted to interject or speak to clear the tenseness of this subject matter. She stays quiet though, simply observing the impact. It occurs to her that Kelly never actually said that she wasn't angry or frustrated with Alex. Alex files that away to discuss later.

"I love you." Alex whispers as she kisses the side of Kelly's bare shoulder. 

"I love you too."

There's a moment of moving and shifting on the bed as Kelly rolls over to face her. Kelly is still as though trying to read Alex' face for a moment. 

"Babe, if I miss the mark on stuff or only get something 90% right, it's okay to tell me. I-"Alex starts to explain. 

"I know."

Alex takes a second to feel through the conversation. "-and sometimes it's important that I figure things out on my own."

Kelly smiled softly. "That's part of growth babe."

"Yeah." Alex nodded in agreement. "That whole thing was like a train wreck of unnecessary behavior from that woman. And Amelia apparently picked up on the energy she was putting off, beyond just being a deranged bitch."

"Of course she did." Kelly stated that as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Maybe it was.

"She shouldn't have to see that."

"But you can't block the truth. If anything, her not knowing would just hurt her worse. My auntie never tap danced around the reality of racism. You have to tell kids the truth, so they can face forward and be ready." 

Alex sighed. " I never got that kind of stuff growing up. I mean there was other stuff but not-not that it didn't happen-"

"Well, you weren't black. "Kelly says it so matter- of -fact like. Learning to face forward on this stuff is something you're gonna have to get used to now babe; Same way I've gotten used to aliens and near death experiences. " 

Alex doesn't respond. She just listens. Kelly rested her head on Alex' chest, going quiet as she cuddled in to sleep, clearly feeling that she's said all that needs to be said. Alex is hit with the very clear feeling that this conversation had more layers than she understood. She had work to do if nothing else. That was a thought for the morning though. She hadn't slept all day.

**FIN**

Thank you for reading. Please leave comments, kudos, questions or constructive criticisms. 

**Author's Note:**

> Author's notes: This is a complicated and difficult subject matter that Kelly and Alex navigate. Alex is a fundamentally good person and I think she's always on Kelly's side. The situation here was whether Alex recognized the difference between "unhinged deranged behavior " vs " Racist power structures that allow unhinged folks to harass Black people" because there is an understanding that is needed that both things can be true at once. Also to be clear, it's noted by Kelly that solely perceiving this as just mentally ill deranged behavior can often ignore the racism inherent in people's understanding that white people can get away with this stuff. It's important in Alex and Kelly's growth as a couple that these things are explored. Also, to be clear, Kelly isn't angry at Alex. She's simply exhausted. Being a black woman and having to expend emotional labor to educate gets exhausting. 
> 
> Quite frankly Kelly was a lot more saintly in dealing with the incident at the hotel, than anyone should have to be. Kelly is who I aspire to be, because the person I am, would have likely chosen violence and went off much harder on that woman than Kelly does. 
> 
> Author's notes 2: The hotel incident in this story is based off of the recent incident at Arlo Hotels. It plays out very similar to this story. A Black father and his son where accosted by a deranged, racist white woman who for no reason, accused the son of stealing her phone. This father and son were guest at the hotel. That woman had check out days ago. The hotel manager, instead of simply using the hotel phone to call the woman's phone, instead chose to empower her assault on the innocent Black people she was accusing. No apology was issued. An apology would have just been the bare minimum too. There's a lot of debate and communication and nonsense on Twitter discussing the situation, the microaggressions and the power structure that allows this to happen. It's a snapshot of the world we live in. Hopefully people learn something from this situation. 
> 
> -Bj


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